August Fun

Since August was a bit of a blur, I am compressing some of the things that we did {and captured on camera} into one blog post! So without further ado...

{Harper's 4th Birthday Party}

We love having friends so close in age! We got to experience the Sweet & Sassy birthday party for the first time celebrating our good friend Harper. The girls liked dressing up, getting their hair, makeup & nails done, & dancing on the little stage! They are still talking about the fun things they got to bring home in their goodie bags.

She very naturally let them do her makeup & nails at the same time!

Happy girls!

{Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus}

I thought it would be fun to take the girls to the circus! I bought tickets for a time when Justin wasn't able to go, so Auntie K came with us. We had a lot of fun watching all the crazy stunts! I should have researched the circus a bit more before I told the girls there would be elephants, though... It was fun to see the tigers & the dogs & all the other things! And somehow I was able to walk away without buying too many crazy expensive things.

Okay, we did get these sparkly star wands!!

{The Olympic Games in Rio}

We got into the Olympic spirit at our house! Mommy was really the one most excited... Mimi had helped the girls make these light up Olympic torches using an LED tea light candle and I enlisted the help of Nora to make Olympic gold medals. I made a Brazilian dish that I now cannot remember the name of for dinner & we watched the opening ceremony! Or rather... I watched it and the girls began to lose interest and start playing elsewhere. But it was fun nonetheless!

Janie wins the gold!

Nora did not feel up to participating in this picture...

{Jumping in Muddy Puddles}

One day it was rainy & we got the idea to go on a walk in the rain. It was really sprinkling at most but it was a good excuse to put on our rain boots, use our cute matching umbrellas, & jump in some puddles. We walked around the entire neighborhood, which took a lot longer than I had anticipated. The girls had fun, though! I learned that Nora likes to find muddy puddles and Janie likes to actually jump in them.

{Longhorn Football Begins}

We love that the football season has begun! We watched the first Texas football game this season against Notre Dame and loved it. Our horns played well, it was exciting throughout, and the girls were great sports with their pom poms and singing of the "Eyes of Texas". We are excited for the rest of football season!

Looking good in burnt orange!

{Officially Matron of Honor}

It's official! I get the honor of standing next to Krista when she marries Michael next year. I am super excited to watch her begin the journey towards marriage!

September is already here! It's probably even more busy than August, so check back in October for more updates.

First Day of Pre-Kindergarten

Nora officially started her first day of pre-kindergarten this August! She had been in her pre-school class all last year, so this ended up being quite the transition for her. She moved up with a few of her friends, which I think helped a lot, but there was definitely a bit of apprehension with this move up.

Nora Lane

First Day of Pre-Kindergarten

August 22nd, 2016

Pre-kindergarten at Primrose is a uniformed classroom, so we had to also begin dressing in the official Primrose uniform. I scored someone's old set of uniforms for a steal and so we were set with a lot of desirable options: dresses, skirts, shorts & pants made from different fabrics, so she had her choice of outfits for each day. We talked ahead of time about how we would be wearing uniforms during the week, and she would get to pick an outfit to wear on Fridays. She seemed totally on board.

When the day finally came, Nora was a disaster. Everything about putting on the uniform was difficult. The blouse. The dress. The socks. The shoes. Everything. I carried her to the car crying. I carried her into Primrose crying. Janie was crying by the end of it all because Nora was crying. It was terribly upsetting along with extremely exhausting and also a bit frustrating. But, as parents know {and especially those parents who are also teachers} once I walked out the door and she became distracted by the other kids and things to do, she was fine. {Okay, I did end up calling during my conference period just to make sure... but she was fine.}

When I picked her up, she told me all about the "big playground" and the tire swing that she wasn't allowed to play on but how there was a castle and it was so much fun. She feels like such a big girl to get to play on the big playground.

Some of Nora's best friends at Primrose!

When I picked her up, she was happy as ever!

Due to obvious reasons, our before school photos did not happen. I was able to get her to smile big for some shots after school. I'm counting it as a win that it was on the actual first day, though!

Since getting settled, Nora now does just fine with the uniform & going to class. It really wasn't the uniform at all I believe, just the nerves about starting something new. Nora is thriving in her new classroom & loves getting to do her choice centers & circle time & of course, the big playground. I think she still misses her previous teachers, but she enjoys her new ones and we are very happy that she is happy!

Nora, we are so proud of you!

We love how kind & sweet you are to others.

We love hearing you tell us stories about

your day & your ideas.

Your singing voice makes us smile!

You have learned so much for

four short years & you amaze us with

what you know every single day.

We know that it can be hard,

but you always shine on the other side of change.

We are excited for what this year holds for you.

We love you & your beautiful smile!

Mommy & Daddy